Physical Sciences Division Research Highlights

January 2013

License Will Lead to Faster-Charging Batteries for Phones, Electric Vehicles

Vorbeck Materials has licensed an enhanced battery technology that was developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and could reduce the time it takes to charge cell phones and other battery-powered devices from hours to minutes. Pictured here is a PNNL lab test for lithium ion batteries.

An enhanced battery technology that can potentially reduce
the time it takes to charge cell phones, electric vehicles and other
battery-powered devices from hours to minutes is the subject of a commercial
license agreement between Battelle and Vorbeck Materials Corp. of Jessup,
Md. Battelle operates the Department of
Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash.

The agreement will allow Vorbeck to bring lithium batteries
incorporating Vor-X® graphene technology to market for use in consumer portable
electronic and medical devices, tools and electric vehicles. Lithium-ion
batteries are rechargeable and are widely used in electronic devices such as
laptops and smartphones, and to power electric cars and trucks.

"Today, a typical cell phone battery takes between two
and five hours to fully recharge, and an electric vehicle has to be plugged in
most of the night to recharge," explained John Lettow, president of
Vorbeck Materials. "The pioneering work done by Vorbeck, Princeton
University, and PNNL is leading to the development of batteries that recharge
quickly, reducing the time it takes to charge a smartphone to minutes and an
electric vehicle to just a couple of hours."